NEWS FROM BERLIN
Berliners increasingly chauvinistic
“Shocking, but not surprising,” says Alina Voinea, commenting on the findings of the new Berlin Monitor. The study finds that 24.4% of Berliners express chauvinistic attitudes. The monitor also examines a broader range of social and political attitudes, including discrimination and democratic stability. Voinea is the Berlin state government’s contact person for antigypsyism. Commissioned by the Senate Department for Anti-Discrimination, the monitor examines racism against Sinti and Roma alongside antisemitism. The results of the study, which surveyed more than 2,000 Berliners, were presented on February 23. While 70% of respondents agreed in 2021 that they were generally satisfied with the democracy as it exists in Germany, this figure dropped to 62% by 2025. And 40% of Berliners were classified as “fragile democrats”—the highest percentage since the study began in 2019. Source: nd-aktuell
Environment Minister Schneider leaves the Berlinale awards ceremony
Excitement surrounding a speech at the Berlinale: the Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) left the hall on February 21 in protest. That happened because the Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib, who won the award for best feature film debut with “Chronicles from the Siege”, had accused the federal government of “being a partner in the genocide in Gaza.”. The Gaza war was also discussed when Lebanese director Marie-Rose Osta (“Yawman ma walad” – “Someday a Child”), said that the ceasefire was not being observed. Festival director Tricia Tuttle affirmed that a festival like Berlinale cannot solve the world’s conflicts. “But it can create space for complexity, for listening and for humanizing one another.” Source: spiegel
Kreuzberg ticket office files for insolvency
The Berlin ticket office KOKA36 has filed for insolvency. This was revealed in a filing dated February 11 at the Charlottenburg District Court. The shop, a fixture for concertgoers on Oranienstraße in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district for over 30 years, has been closed since last week. Although insolvency proceedings are initially just a court-ordered process to determine how debts can be settled or the company restructured, it is currently unclear whether regular operations will resume. The SO36 concert venue is also affected by the insolvency. A crowdfunding campaign (at https://www.startnext.com/so36-cool/mehr-infos) is now underway to minimize the losses. Source: groove.de
NEWS FROM GERMANY
Intelligence officers oppose AfD ban
It is another setback for a ban on the AfD: Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is skeptical about a ban on the party. The intelligence officers fear being “blind and deaf” in the event of a ban, with informants and undercover investigators being deactivated or withdrawn. There is actually no unanimous opinion among intelligence officials if informants are necessary to keep an eye on the AfD. Source: nd-aktuell
Germany is shrinking
The wave of bankruptcies in Germany continues to persist: in January, 1,391 partnerships and corporations officially filed for insolvency. While this was fewer than in December, it was 4% higher than in 2025. Steffen Müller, head of insolvency research at the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle, believes that “easing of the situation” is possible no earlier than April. Furthermore, job losses in the industrial sector were almost twice as high as in 2024, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office and an analysis which covers companies with at least 50 employees. This means the actual decline is greater. Source: jungewelt
Greens offer cooperation to Merz on constitutional amendments
The Greens have signaled their willingness to discuss constitutional amendments with Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). At the same time, the party is presenting its own reform package entitled “Immediate Action Program for the Future,” which proposes far-reaching changes to the pension and healthcare systems. The authors are Katharina Dröge and Britta Haßelmann, the two co-chairs of the Greens’ parliamentary group in the Bundestag. The document is largely very general, and the Greens only provide specifics on two points. On the one hand, they advocate for net immigration of 400,000 workers per year. On the other hand, they want to replace the Riester pension scheme with a state-run citizens’ fund. Source: berliner Zeitung
BKA figures for 2025: right-wing violence increases again
According to figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), there was in 2025 1,521 cases of politically motivated violence from the right-wing spectrum in Germany. In 2024, there were 1,488 of those crimes in the country. Such figures are part of a response from the Federal Government to the Left Party. The Government also pointed out that the number of crimes may still change due to late reports. Ferat Kocak, domestic policy expert for the Left Party, observes that “Right-wing violence continues to escalate, and the federal government is looking the other way.” Source: tagesspiel
Exactly 100 years after the NSDAP Reich Party Rally
The AfD wants to meet in Erfurt at the beginning of July – exactly a century after the NSDAP party conference in Weimar. Historians and politicians see this as a deliberate provocation. “The deliberately chosen parallel shows once again who the brainchild of the AfD is,” said Foreign Office State Minister Serap Güler (CDU) to the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. ” It disgusts me how little decency and respect this party has for our history,” Güler added. The historian and totalitarianism researcher Jörg Ganzenmüller, director of the Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism at the TU Dresden, spoke of “a conscious symbolic act that works on several levels”. Source: tagesspiel
A 13-Year-Old attacks a Muslim schoolmate with knife
A 13-year-old boy allegedly attacked a Muslim schoolmate with a knife at a school in Bretten, near Karlsruhe, inflicting minor injuries. According to the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office, the suspected perpetrator had recently come to their attention for making far-right extremist statements. In Germany, children under 14 are not criminally responsible in Germany, and therefore they do not face criminal charges. “Nevertheless, it is our goal to clarify the background of the incident and to support the responsible youth welfare office in providing the boy and his family with the necessary assistance,” the State Criminal Police Office further stated. Source: islamiq
“Germany Monitor”: strong support for democracy, doubts about its function
The world is changing, mostly for the worse: autocracies are on the rise, and democratic societies are under pressure. The “Germany Monitor 2025” concludes nevertheless that 98% of all Germans have a positive attitude toward the idea of democracy. However, only 68% say that democracy means the government must adhere to parliamentary decisions and the separation of powers. The focus of such study, with the participation of 4,000 representative individuals across Germany, were also asked in which areas of politics they most perceive these changes. The strongest change is in defense policy. Source: dw
